Lionel Messi goals per calendar year

That the world's ramen consumption and Lionel Messi's annual goal count should trend together is the kind of fact that reaches for a ridiculous middle-ground explanation, and fails to find one. Messi does not eat instant noodles. Or if he does, he isn't saying.

Both bent sharply in 2020 for covid reasons. Global instant ramen production leapt about 9% as households worldwide stockpiled shelf-stable food during early lockdowns, while Messi's goal total was disrupted by a pandemic-shortened La Liga schedule, Champions League postponement, and compressed fixture lists. Two totally unrelated numbers, both altered by the same virus.

So the correlation is what happens when a pandemic touches everything — even the striker's stats. The noodles boiled; the schedule broke. Both belonged to 2020.